Eagerly anticipating this week ... (7-18)

8/03/2017

A sparse, not too auspicious poster for Bertrand Tavernier's In the Electric Mist, which does, at least, reveal its star and Louisiana setting

We follow sheriff detective Dave Robicheaux as he works for justice in New Iberia and New Orleans, Louisiana. Prostitutes are found dead, and a murder from the olden days of segregation seems to inform the recent misdeeds.In the Electric Mist is an adaptation of James Lee Burke's (Dixie City Jam (1994)) In the Electric Mist with Confederate Dead (1993) from his 20-novel long Dave Robicheaux book series, written by Jerzy Kromolowski and Mary Olson-Kromolowski (The Pledge (2001), both) and directed by great French filmmaker Bertrand Tavernier (Daddy Nostalgia/Daddy Nostalgie (1990)).I really liked this film, which is brimming with local lore and local linguistics so thick that it is often difficult to understand what exactly is being conveyed from character to character.Tommy Lee Jones (U.S. Marshals (1998)) is eminent and shares especially good interplay with Justina Machado (Body of Proof (2011), TV-series), who plays a nuanced FBI agent role, who also ends up incurring some guilt in the swampy - both literally and figuratively speaking - reality that is portrayed here.

Cost: UnknownBox office: 7.9 mil. $= Unknown (but should likely count as at least a big flop)[In the Electric Mist premiered 7 February (Berlin International Film Festival) and runs 117 minutes. It is the second Robicheaux novel to be adapted, following mega-flop Heaven's Prisoners (1996) starring Alec Baldwin. Shooting took place entirely on location in Louisiana. Something went wrong on the film, leading to its not getting an American release; it was only shown twice one evening in Burke's hometown of New Iberia, Louisiana and was then released straight-to-DVD in North America. Tavernier released a book accounting making the film; Pas à Pas dans la Brume Électrique [Step by Step into The Electric Mist] (2009). The film made the vast majority of its gross in his native France; 7.2 mil. $ (91.1 % of the total gross). The 2nd and 3rd biggest markets were Spain with 355k $ (4.5 %) and Belgium with 249k $ (3.2 %). If the budget was around a modest 5 mil. $, which seems likely, (though it would be far less than the budget for the first Burke adaptation's 25 mil. $ budget), the theatrical performance would rank the film as a big flop. It made in excess of 1.9 mil. $ on home video sales in North America. Be aware that the North American DVD release is a 102 minute studio cut of the film, whereas we in the rest of the world have gotten the 112 minute director's cut, which is what this review is based on. In the Electric Mist is fresh at 64 % with a 6.1/10 critical average at Rotten Tomatoes.]What do you think of In the Electric Mist?

Jóhann Jóhannsson has died

The Icelandic composer debuted with The Icelandic Dream (2000). Later credits include Opium: Diary of a Madwoman (2007), Prisoners )2013), The Theory of Everything (2014) for which he was Oscar-nominated, Sicario (2015) for which he was again Oscar-nominated, Arrival (2016), In the Blood/I Blodet (2016), Mandy (2018), The Mercy (2018) and Mary Magdalene (2018). He won a Golden Globe, was three times BAFTA-nominated, twice Grammy-nominated. And passed away at age 48 from an undisclosed cause. R.I.P.

Reg E. Cathey has died

Born in Alabama, Cathey studied acting and theater. His credits include Funny Farm (1988), Loose Cannons (1990), What About Bob? (1991), The Mask (1994), Se7en (1995), American Psycho (2000), The Corner (2000, miniseries), Oz (2000-03), S.W.A.T. (2003), The Machinist (2004), The Wire (2006-08), Arbitrage (2012), Law & Order: Special Victims Unit (2008-13), Banshee (2014, TV-series), St. Vincent (2014), Fantastic Four (2015), Nasty Baby (2015), House of Cards (2013-16) - for which he won an Emmy, Horace and Pete (2016, TV-series), Tyrel (2018) and many more. Cathey died at age 59 from lung cancer. R.I.P.

John Mahoney has passed away

Mahoney was born in England but moved to the US due to WWII and became a Chicagoan. At 37, he changed his life course, having had enough of his career as a medical journal editor, and pursued acting, joining Chicago's Steppenwolf Theatre. His credits include Mission Hill (1982), Tin Men (1987), Moonstruck (1987), Eight Men Out (1988), Say Anything... (1989), Barton Fink (1991), In the Line of Fire (1993), The Hudsucker Proxy (1994), Primal Fear (1996), Antz (1998), In Treatment (2009, TV-series), Hot in Cleveland (2011-14) and Foyle's War (2015). His biggest success and most remembered and cherished work was as Martin Crane on the great Seattle-set sitcom Frasier (1993-04), for which he was twice Emmy-nominated. Mahoney passed away at age 77. R.I.P.

The 2018 Oscar nominations have been released

From a Beverly Hills ceremony hosted by Andy Serkis and Tiffany Haddish, the year's most nominated pic is Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water with 13. Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk tails with 8. The Best Picture nominees are: Call Me by Your Name, Darkest Hour, Dunkirk, Get Out, Lady Bird, Phantom Thread, The Post, The Shape of Water and Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri. Of surprises this year can me names: Horror-comedy Get Out scoring several nominations, Mary J. Blige scoring two nominations; as Best Supporting Actress and Best Song, both for Mudbound. Christopher Plummer's nomination for All the Money in the World makes him the oldest actor nominee to date. Disappointments include that Star Wars: The Last Jedi is only nominated for sound Oscars, visual effects and Best Score, and the War for the Planet of the Apes is similarly cheated. Wonder Woman is wholly absent. Jimmy Kimmel is hosting the March 4 ceremony, the first to host for two consecutive years since Billy Crystal in 1997-98. Click the pic to read the full list of nominees

The 2018 Golden Globes have elapsed

With Seth Meyers hosting for the first time, ratings fell 5 % from 2017. Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri won Best Picture and 3 other awards, topping for the night, which also saw Ladybird and The Shape of Water victorious. Click on the picture of the Best Picture winners for more details

Golden Globes nominations are out

The 75th Golden Globes will be hosted by Seth Meyers and aired Jan. 7 on NBC. The many nominations were unveiled by Garreth Hedlund, Kristen Bell and Alfre Woodard in Beverly Hills the other day: Toppig this year is Guillermo Del Toro's The Shape of Water with 7 noms, followed by Martin McDonagh's Three Billboards Outside Ebbing, Missouri and Steven Spielberg's The Post, both with 6. HBO's Big Little Lies tops the TV nominations with 6 nom, followed by Feud: Bette and Joan with 4. Click the pic to get to the full list of nominees

The fall of Harvey Weinstein

Hollywood mogul and power figure Harvey Weinstein, co-founder of Miramax and The Weinstein Company with his brother Bob Weinstein, has led one of the most successful production and distribution companys in North America for the las decades, but now his star is coming down. A New York Times exposé revealed that Weinstein has paid 8 women to keep his sexually inappropriate behavior and assaults quiet, that several are claiming that he ouright raped them and that scores - at least 30, among them super-stars like Angelina Jolie and Gwyneth Palthrow, - are going on-the-record about traumatic experiences with Weinstein through the years. Criminal investigations have begun in London and New York, and The Harvey Weinstein Company has fired Harvey, while the Academy of Motion Picture Arts and Sciences are pondering whether to make Harvey Weinstein the only second member in its history to get kicked out. Weinstein's wife has left him, and just about everyone, - from Barack Obama, Hillary Clinton to Tom Hanks and Meryl Streep, - have issued statements that decry and distance themselves from him. Lindsay Lohan seems to be the sole big name to come out on Harvey Weinstein's side. But his fall is not yet over

Jean Rochefort has died

Rochefort served in the military and trained as an actor in Paris on the stage. Since 1956, he has accrued 160 acting credits. Among them are Swords of Blood (1962), Angélique (1964), Le Fantôme de la Liberté (1974), Frankenstein 90 (1984), Internal Affairs (1995-05), Mr. Bean's Holiday (2007) and many more. Rochefort passed away at age 87. R.I.P.

Harry Dean Stanton has died

Born in Kentucky, Stanton served in the Pacific in WWII, was a guitar and harmonica player and a singer, touring with a Baptist priest, played childrens' theater and studied acting in New York. His work in TV and movies spans more than 60 years and so many incredible performances and titles that a summation inevitably runs very long. Stanton's credits start with Inner Sanctum (1954, TV-series) and include The Wrong Man (1956), Rawhide (1959-65), Ride in the Whirlwind (1966), In the Heat of the Night (1967), Cool Hand Luke (1967), Gunsmoke (1958-68), Two-Lane Blacktop (1971), Pat Garrett & Billy the Kid (1973), The Godfather: Part II (1974), Alien (1979), Escape from New York (1981), One from the Heart (1981), Christine (1983), Repo Man (1984), Paris, Texas (1984), The Bear (1984), Pretty in Pink (1986), The Last Temptation of Christ (1988), Wild at Heart (1990), Twin Peaks: Fire Walk with Me (1992), Fear and Loathing in Las Vegas (1998), The Straight Story (1999), The Green Mile (1999), The Pledge (2001), Inland Empire (2006), Big Love (2006-10), This Must Be the Place (2011), The Avengers (2012), The Last Stand (2013), Lucky (2017), Twin Peaks (2017, TV-series) and his probably last credit, Frank and Aa (2017). Stanton died of natural causes at age 91. R.I.P.

Frank Vincent has died

The Massachussetts-born actor debuted in The Death Collector (1979) alongside his pal Joe Pesci. Vincent played parts in Raging Bull (1980), The Pope of Greenwich Village (1984), Wise Guys (1986), Do the Right Thing (1989), Goodfellas (1990), Jungle Fever (1991), Casino (1995), West New York (1996), Grind (1997), Cop Land (1997), Made Men (1997), Law & Order (1991-99), Isn't She Great (2000), This Thing of Ours (2003), The Sopranos (2004-07), Spy (2011) and many more. He also did voice acting for Shark Tale (2004) and the two Grand Theft Auto video games San Andreas (2004) and Liberty City Stories (2005). He passed away due to complications from heart surgery at age 78. R.I.P.

Movie masterpiece of the week (6-18)

Pier Paolo Pasolini's The Gospel According to St. Matthew/Il Vangelo Secondo Matteo (1964)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (5-18)

Sebastián Lelio's A Fantastic Woman/Una Mujer Fantástica (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (5-18)

Lau Lauritzen, Alice O'Fredericks' Panserbasse (1936)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (4-18)

Steven Spielberg's The Post (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (4-18)

Noah Baumbach's The Squid and the Whale (2005)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (3-18)

Dmitrii Kalashnikov's The Road Movie (2016)

Movie masterpiece of the week (3-18)

Carol Reed's The Third Man (1949)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (2-18)

Alexander Payne's Downsizing (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (2-18)

Robert Redford's Ordinary People (1980)

Eagerly anticipating this week (1-18)

Lynne Ramsay's You Were Never Really Here (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (1-18)

John Lasseter's Toy Story (1995)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (50-17)

Paul Thomas Anderson's Phantom Thread (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (51-17)

Rian Johnson's Star Wars: The Last Jedi (2017)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (49-17)

Michael Gracey's The Greatest Showman (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (50-17)

Stanley Kubrick's Spartacus (1960)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (48-17)

Rian Johnson's Star Wars: Episode VIII - The Last Jedi (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (49-17)

Sofia Coppola's Somewhere (2010)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (47-17)

Sean Baker's The Florida Project (2017)

TV-series Masterpiece of the week (48-17)

Terence Winter's Boardwalk Empire S2 (2011)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (46-17)

Guillermo del Toro's The Shape of Water (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (47-17)

John Crowley's Brooklyn (2015)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (45-17)

Jean-Stéphane Sauvaire's A Prayer Before Dawn (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (46-17)

Hayao Miyazaki's Princess Mononoke/Mononoke-Hime (1997)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (44-17)

Stephen Chbosky's Wonder (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (45-17)

Wayne Wang and Paul Auster's Smoke (1995)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (43-17)

Judd Apatow and Michael Bonfiglio's May It Last: A Portrait of the Avett Brothers (2017, documentary)

Movie masterpiece of the week (44-17)

John Hughes' Sixteen Candles (1984)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (42-17)

Kristoffer Borgli's DRIB (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (43-17)

Ruben Östlund's The Square (2017)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (41-17)

Kogonada's Columbus (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (42-17)

M. Night Shyamalan's Signs (2002)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (40-17)

Yorgos Lanthimos' The Killing of a Sacred Deer (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (41-17)

Akira Kurosawa's Seven Samurai/Shichinin no Samurai (1954)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (39-17)

John Trengove's The Wound/Inxeba (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (40-17)

David Fincher's Se7en (1995)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (38-17)

Denis Villeneuve's Blade Runner 2049 (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (39-17)

Steven Spielberg's Saving Private Ryan (1998)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (37-17)

John Carroll Lynch's Lucky (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (38-17)

Daniel Ribeiro's The Way He Looks/Hoje Eu Quero Voltar Sozinho (2014)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (36-17)

Christina Clusiau and Shaul Schwarz's Trophy (2017, documentary)

Movie masterpiece of the week (37-17)

Alfred Hitchcock's Rope (1948)

Eagerl anticipating this week ... (35-17)

Mike White's Brad's Status (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (36-17)

Howard Hawks' Rio Bravo (1959)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (34-17)

Andy Muschietti's It (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (35-17)

Sam Mendes' Revolutionary Road (2008)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (33-17)

Peter Bratt's Dolores (2017, documentary)

Movie masterpiece of the week (34-17)

Xavier Dolan's I Killed My Mother/J'ai Tué Ma Mère (2009)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (32-17)

Craig Anderson's Red Christmas (2016)

Movie masterpiece of the week (33-17)

Quentin Tarantino's Reservoir Dogs (1992)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (31-17)

Steven Soderbergh's Logan Lucky (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (32-17)

Matt Reeves' War for the Planet of the Apes (2017)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (30-17)

Luca Guadagnino's Call Me by Your Name (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (31-17)

Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk (2017)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (29-17)

Bonni Cohen and Jon Shenk's An Inconvenient Sequel: Truth to Power (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (30-17)

Darren Aronofsky's Requiem for a Dream (2000)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (28-17)

Damien Power's Killing Ground (2016)

Movie masterpiece of the week (29-17)

Roman Polanski's Repulsion (1965)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (27-17)

Jeff Orlowski's Chasing Coral (2017, documentary)

Movie masterpiece of the week (28-17)

William Friedkin's The Exorcist (1973)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (26-17)

Christopher Nolan's Dunkirk (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (27-17)

Nicholas Ray's Rebel Without a Cause (1955)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (25-17)

Johannes Nyholm's The Giant/Jätten (2016)

Movie masterpiece of the week (26-17)

Fred Zinnemann's From Here to Eternity (1953)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (24-17)

David Leitch's Atomic Blonde (2017)

Movie masterpiece of the week (25-17)

Alfred Hitchcock's Rear Window (1954)

Eagerly anticipating this week ... (23-17)

Kôji Fukada's Harmonium/Fuchi ni Tatsu (2016)

Movie masterpiece of the week (24-17)

Akira Kurosawa's Rashomon/Rashômon (1950)

Film Excess is against piracy

Film Excess is against all illegal streaming and downloading of film, TV and other intellectual property. Besides being illegal, this misbehavior seriously harms the creative movie and TV industry and culture.Illegal streaming and downloading is NOT okay.